Cyber Essentials at ACEVO

ACEVO is the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. Together with their network, they inspire and support civil society leaders by providing connections, advocacy and skills. ACEVO approached Smartdesc as they wanted to achieve the Cyber Essentials certification, to prove their commitment to best practice with cyber security. Challenge Cyber Essentials is a government-backed,…

Information Governance at Terrence Higgins Trust

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity. They support people living with HIV and help those using the services to achieve good sexual health. They are an organisation that pride themselves on placing the service user and their privacy first. Challenge Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) were already using the services…

Cyber Security and other charity IT resources

Welcome to the Smartdesc October newsletter. This month we discuss how you can can strengthen your charity’s cyber security posture and offer the following resources: A blog on cyber security takeaways from our recent roundtable, and another on vulnerabilities you should be aware of Free Microsoft Cloud Security, Information Governance, and Cyber Security assessments The…

Cyber Security Updates You Need to Know About

In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape, staying informed about cybersecurity threats is crucial, especially for nonprofits, who are the third most targeted industry in the world.  In this blog, we share three recent cyber security vulnerabilities you should be aware of, and instructions on how to protect yourselves from them.  Smartdesc are now offering charities a complimentary…

Charity Technology Roundtable – Cyber Security – Summary

Last week we held our third Quarterly Charity Technology Roundtable, hosted by Microsoft Tech for Social Impact. In this blog, we summarise our discussion on cyber security, including risk management, BYOD, reducing risk of human error and systems gatekeeping. Compliance Frameworks, Risk Management, Reporting​ It is good practice to define the framework(s) or standard(s) that are…

Charity Digital Skills Report 2023: Our Analysis

The Charity Digital Skills report, now in its sixth year, is widely regarded as an annual barometer on digital maturity, skills and priorities across the nonprofit sector. It’s the digital sister of our own annual Charity Tech Leaders Report which focuses on IT infrastructure, M365 & cloud, outsourcing and cyber security. In this blog, we…

Information Governance & Data Protection Workshop for Charities – 17 October 2023

How do you keep your charity up to date with ever changing data protection law, GDPR standards, Subject Access Requests and data breaches? This is just one of the questions we answered in our Information Governance and Data Protection workshop for nonprofit organisations, in partnership with Charity IT Leaders. Andrew Coyle, our Director of Information…

Getting ready for AI at your charity

Welcome to the Smartdesc July newsletter. In this edition, we cover how you can utilise Microsoft’s new productivity tool Copilot at your charity, including: A blog introducing Microsoft Copilot, its capabilities and some important considerations Further resources from Microsoft and the National Cyber Security Centre Our Charity Technology Leaders Report 2023 Resources In this blog,…

AI for charities – what is Microsoft Copilot and what can it do?

Since its arrival in November last year, ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. This powerful new chatbot with seemingly endless possibilities took 3 months to reach 100 million users; Facebook took 4 years to reach the same milestone! Microsoft is leveraging some of this technology to introduce AI into Microsoft 365 this year –…

Protect your charity’s data & stay compliant

Welcome to the Smartdesc May newsletter. In this edition, we cover Information Governance and Data Protection and how charities can adhere to the latest legal obligations and best practice, including: Advice on upcoming changes to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. A video on Information Governance and Data Protection for nonprofits. Further resources from…